Hundreds of volunteer reservists won’t show up * PM denies bid to control judiciary * Podcast: Averting a theocracy * NY landlord ’adopts’ survivor * Dems shift on Israel

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Friday, March 17, 2023 Presented by [Nefesh B’Nefesh]( [Hundreds of elite IDF reservists say they will stop showing up beginning Sunday]( By ToI Staff Officers and soldiers who volunteer for reserve duty in Military Intelligence’s Special Operations Division and cyber warfare units cite Knesset vote Sunday barring a PM’s recusal [Roads blocked, some protesters attacked, in mass demos against overhaul; 21 arrested]( By Carrie Keller-Lynn and ToI Staff [Ex-Shin Bet chief fears overhaul could cause agency to ‘disintegrate from within’]( By ToI Staff [On Berlin visit, Netanyahu denies he’s working to curtail independence of judiciary]( By Lazar Berman German chancellor says he’s watching overhaul debate ‘with great concern,’ urges weighing Herzog plan; PM insists Israel ‘will remain a liberal democracy’ [Opposition heads back Herzog’s ‘not ideal’ proposal, pan coalition for dismissing it]( By Carrie Keller-Lynn [Netanyahu says he is ‘attentive’ to protests, vows ‘responsible’ judicial changes]( By Lazar Berman [Graffiti near justice minister’s home brands him ‘enemy of the people’]( By ToI Staff Likud ministers, opposition MKs decry vandalism targeting Yariv Levin, a leading figure in the government’s judicial overhaul push [Levin reportedly says he’s refusing to pause overhaul due to fears of prosecution]( By ToI Staff [Unconfirmed reports say coalition considering moderations to judicial overhaul bills]( By Jeremy Sharon from our sponsor [Start Practicing Medicine Right Off the Aliyah Flight? With Nefesh B’Nefesh’s MedEx, It’s No Dream]( Hilary Faverman Medical professionals thinking about making aliyah? There’s still time to register for A Taste of MedEx (March 19 & 20, 2023 in Teaneck, NJ) – register now [Blinken urges consensus on Israeli judicial overhaul: ‘The best way forward’]( By AFP, ToI Staff and Jacob Magid Amid anti-government protests rocking Jewish state, secretary of state says US won’t take sides on legislative proposals in the ‘very vibrant democracy of Israel’ [US senators worried about overhaul’s security fallout, IDF vet says after DC visit]( By Luke Tress [Netanyahu to visit London next week on official trip]( By ToI Staff [Ben Gvir says attorney general must be fired, is acting as de facto opposition chief]( By ToI Staff Far-right minister claims Gali Baharav-Miara has opposed every government decision, says he recognizes legal complexity in axing her but says it’s necessary given the circumstances [Police chief vows force to stay ‘apolitical,’ in apparent dig at Ben Gvir]( By ToI Staff [Likud minister says Channel 13 wants coalition shot; network decries ‘incitement’]( By ToI Staff Public Diplomacy Minister Distel Atbaryan says news channel is ‘counting down’ until coalition members get killed after anchor criticizes her for inflammatory Holocaust remarks [‘Will Bibi break Israel?’ Economist asks on cover of latest edition]( By ToI Staff [Photo Essay / Dystopian ‘Handmaids’ become iconic fixture at protests against judicial overhaul]( By ISAAC SCHARF and Tia Goldenberg Interview [Even Portnoy wouldn’t complain about Newark gala for provocative author Philip Roth]( By Jordan Hoffman Actors John Turturro, Matthew Broderick and Tony Shalhoub, plus a slew of appropriately edgy writers, will head up a 3-day literary festival for the hometown hero March 17-19 [4 Palestinians, including terror group members, killed by Israeli troops in Jenin]( By Emanuel Fabian Police say Yamam officers ‘neutralize’ two wanted men in West Bank city, identified as senior members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad [Two indicted on terror charges for January firebombing of Herzliya mosque]( By Michael Horovitz ToI podcast [What Matters Now to religion and state activist Uri Regev: Averting a theocracy]( By Amanda Borschel-Dan This week on the podcast, we hear how the judicial overhaul package may affect religious freedom – and the lack of it – in the Holy Land from an Israeli lawyer/Reform rabbi [Poll indicates Democrats’ sympathies lie with Palestinians over Israel for 1st time]( By Ron Kampeas 49% of Democratic respondents sympathize more with the Palestinians and 38% with Israelis; support for Israel among Republicans remains strong at 78%, Gallup survey finds [67% of young US Jews say ‘ideal rabbi’ could better connect them to Jewish identity]( By Canaan Lidor [Americans feel more favorably than not about Jews — survey]( By Michael Horovitz From the blogs - part 5 of 5 Dan Ben-David [For a glimpse of Israel’s future, look not at Poland or Hungary, but at Afghanistan]( Israel has reached its demographic-democratic point of no return. At some point, the secular Netanyahu will be gone. Not so his Haredi and Jewish supremacist partners [Health tech leaders warn judicial overhaul will lead to brain drain and funding halt]( By Renee Ghert-Zand CEOs and top researchers fear potential threat to democracy will jeopardize international partnerships that Israel’s innovators rely on to bring treatments to market [Economist at think tank that helped shape overhaul quits in opposition to legislation]( By ToI Staff Top Ops Jason Fredric Gilbert [A guide to protesting the judicial reform]( I don’t necessarily love the Supreme Court, but I think it beats a religious court. Or a kangaroo court. But NOT a food court Ilana Goldstein Saks [Sketchy by design: The Tabernacle]( Connecting to God is creative, a skill to be practiced and honed, and can’t be dictated by someone else (Vayakhel/Pekudei) [How the removal of Jewish scripture from Turkey marred Israel’s rescue operation]( By Canaan Lidor ZAKA volunteers brought back and showcased 2 Scrolls of Esther said to be decades old, sparking frenzied allegations of ‘archaeological theft’ in the Turkish media [Students at Istanbul school perform Nazi salute in soccer game against Jewish school]( By David I. Klein [After kicking down a Holocaust survivor’s door, a NY landlord becomes her guardian]( By Matt Lebovic Real estate investor Brock Cvijanovich wanted to be the good guy in someone’s story, so he and his mother ‘adopted’ an elderly woman whose building he’d purchased in 2021 [CRM]( [Tens of thousands run in 12th annual Jerusalem Marathon]( By ToI Staff Noah Kigen Kiprotich, 34, wins main race, while fellow Kenyan Margaret Njuguna finishes first among women; police reopen roads as event comes to an end [Hitting the pavement / This (half) marathon runner will jog Jerusalem barefoot]( By Jessica Steinberg [Why Bulgarian Jews skipped an official ceremony marking their rescue from the Nazis]( By David I. Klein More Headlines [In first, Israel said to authorize sale of defensive military equipment to Ukraine]( By ToI Staff [NY lawmakers lash Yeshiva University for demanding private info of LGBTQ club members]( By Luke Tress [2 killed, 6 wounded in construction site scaffolding collapse in Ramat Gan]( By ToI Staff [Ex-editor of Jewish paper arrested for assaulting cop during Jan. 6 Capitol storming]( By ToI Staff [Murder probe launched after Haifa woman found dead at home; husband arrested]( By ToI Staff [Israeli, Dominican teams gather to promote friendship at World Baseball Classic]( By jacob gurvis [Israeli startup to supply hydrogen tech to Japan’s Sumitomo Corp]( By Sue Surkes [Olmert calls on world leaders to shun Netanyahu for ‘destroying’ Israel’s democracy]( By ToI Staff [Trust broken, startup heads mull move to ‘stable’ banks in wake of SVB fall — survey]( By Sharon Wrobel [Analysis / 20 years after US toppled Saddam, Shiites the big winners in Iraq]( By Tony Gamal-Gabriel [Tel Aviv, Jerusalem housing prices fall as mortgage borrowing hits four-year low]( By Danielle Nagler [Abraham Zarem, one of the last surviving Manhattan Project scientists, dies at 106]( By Andrew Silow-Carroll [The daily edition]( [facebook]( [twitter]( [instagram]( [View in browser]( [Contact support](mailto:support@timesofisrael.com) [Advertise with us](mailto:advertise@timesofisrael.com) Were you forwarded this email? 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